What Does a Smartphone Do for the Modern Musician?

Answer: plenty.

It's all in how you choose to use it. I know in my case, I'm a little tech-shy, so it's taken me several months to get adjusted to the incredible power of the little device I carry around all day.

When it comes to you and your band, though, the smartphone's top uses are as follows:
 
    -Communication
    -Organization
    -Study


Communication:

Obviously, your smartphone is used as a phone. You call band members, your manager, and the owner of the new venue that just opened up in town within seconds(especially with the convenience of google-powered phone-number search).

In addition, though, you can use your and your bandmates' smartphones to all access the bandgroup's Twitter, FaceBook, Instagram, ReverbNation, SoundCloud, whatever-you-may-use for increased publicity and PR.

Organization:

I highly recommend linking everyone's smartphones to one main Google account. Google Calendar lets several different users view, edit, and cancel/postpone events within one account. Updating this way makes scheduling gigs a lot easier, and also lets band members double-check whether they really have an extra hour to catch a drink before load-in time.

Evernote is another constant for me when I'm on the road. It's a note-taking app that synchs with an online account pretty regularly, so I know that if my phone is lost or stolen, the info or song ideas I've saved to that app with be retrievable.

A GPS program will be your lifesaver on the road. Most smartphones come standard with these.

Study:

There are so, so many good apps out there for music study. I personally love Tenuto for theory study. I also use Perfect Ear Pro on a daily basis to keep up my aural skills. I use a basic Android Flash Study app to make flash cards on my phone that I can flip through during downtime.

Also, my Spotify app is one of my favorite time-passers. I have the paid version, so I have content downloaded to my phone even if there's no 4G data access. Spotify and new music are one of the ways I keep my mind and music-sense fresh-it helps keep my creativity churning.

Finally, there are a plethora of news-based apps that let you keep abreast of what's going on in the world you're working through. It's always good to have a handle on the world and local news, since your position requires the ability to make small-talk and seem reasonably intelligent and 'linked-in' to the art networks.





These are by no means an exhaustive listing of the applications and opportunities your smartphone offers. I just figured I could list the abilities that I found the most useful to this crazy new millennial lifestyle we all are learning to adjust with.